Floating holder for film



Oct. 7, 1958 c. G. PADGETT FLOATING HOLDER FOR FILM Filed Feb. 14, 1956 L m m m 2,854,910 FLOATING HOLDER FOR FILM Clarence Gary Padgett, Glenview, Ill.

Application February 14,1956, Serial No. 565,496

3 Claims. (Cl. 95-100) This invention relates to film holding devices and particularly to a novel floating X-ray film holder.

it is common practice in dental oflices to develop a considerable number of X-ray pictures at one time. Development of X-ray pictures follow the familiar pattern of immersing the X-ray film in a developing solution, washing it, fixing it in a fixing solution, again washing it and then drying the film. To conveniently handle the film during these steps, holders designed to support a number of sheets of film are utilized. For example, one common form of holder can support enough films for a complete X-ray of a patients mouth. On occasion, however, it is desired, and often necessary as an emergency measure, to develop only one or two sheets of film to determine the condition of only one or two teeth. In those instances it has been found the holders normally supplied the pro fession are bulky and inconvenient to use for only one or two such pictures.

It is, therefore, a primary object of this invention to provide a novel X-ray film holder for conveniently supporting a single sheet of X-ray film for development.

Another object is to provide a novel X-ray film holder that floats in the liquid or liquids used for development process.

Still another object is to provide a novel X-ray film holder that is easily loaded with film for development.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the subsequent description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a specific embodiment of the invention as it wouldappear suspended in a liquid during development of a sheet of film;

Fig. 2 i an elevational view of the device shown in Fig. l as it would appear when suspended for drying the sheet of film;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the device as seen along line 3-3 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 4 illustrates a segment of the device shown in Fig. 1 as it would appear while being loaded with film.

The objects of this invention are accomplished, in general, by utilizing a tension coil spring attached to a float. The spring provides a means for gripping the edge of a piece of film and the float provides a means for suspending the spring, together with the sheet of film it supports, submerged in liquid.

Referring to the drawing, the device comprises, generally, an elongated solid wound coiled tension spring 11 and a float 12. In the preferred embodiment the float 12 is a hollow plastic ball having sufiicient buoyancy to remain afloat in the developing liquid while suspending coil 11 together with a sheet of film 13 submerged. Float 12 is provided with an upwardly extending handle which enables a person developing film to remove the device from the liquid and to transfer it from one liquid to another without his touching the liquid.

One end of the spring 11 is attached to the float 12 diametrically opposite the handle 14 to extend downwardly United states Patent therefrom, in this instance. In order that the device may have suflicient stability to maintain the film submerged in the liquid, spring 11 is sufiiciently long and has sufficient weight to act as a ballast. As is best seen in Fig. 4, the sheet of film 13 is supported by spring 11 by being inserted edgewise between adjacent turns of the spring. Spring 11 is deformable both by transversely bending it and by longitudinally extending it. When the spring 11 is deformed by transverse bending, as shown in Fig. 4, wedge shaped spaces 16 develop between adjacent turns such as 17 and 18, on the side of the springopposite the direction of displacement. Sheet 13 may then be inserted into the spaces 16 and upon release of the spring, sheet 13 is frictionally gripped between the turns. Spring 11 is shown as a spring of relatively small diameter, and its diameter is preferably selected to limit the area of contact between spring 19 and sheet 13 to the border area of film, thus preventing any damage to the image on the sheet, the helical form of the turns of course limiting the extent to which the sheet may be inserted.

While the spring may be transversely bent to provide the spaces 16 for the insertion of the sheets, engagement may also be obtained by longitudinally extending spring 11. Such longitudinal extension permits insertion of sheet 13 as shown in Fig. 3. To facilitate the longitudinal extension of spring 11 and to provide an anchoring means for suspending the device for drying the sheet, the other end of spring 11, opposite that attached to the float, is bent to form a hook 19. Longitudinal extension of the spring 11 may be accomplished with one hand by engaging hook 19 with a suitable projection 21 and then pulling the float 12 away from the hook, thus leaving the operators other hand free for inserting the sheet of film 13 between the turns. The device may also be suspended for drying the film after development by the hook 19 and allowing the device to hang downwardly.

From the foregoing it is seen that this invention aflords a novel floating device for supporting one or more sheets of X-ray film or the like during the development process. The device is easy to manipulate and is convenient to use when development of only one or two sheets of film is required, or desirable.

Although the invention has been described in connection with a certain specific structural embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that various modifications and alternative structures may be resorted to without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A device of the character described comprising a generally spherical float for suspending the device in a liquid and an elongated solid wound coil tension spring attached at one end to said float and extending radially therefrom, said spring having an initial tension therein and being resiliently deformable to form spaces between adjacent turns thereof for easy insertion of an edge of a sheet of photographic film or the like therebetween and adapted to support at least one sheet by resiliently gripping the edge thereof between adjacent turns, said spring extending downwardly from said float, when the float is in the liquid, to hold the film completely submerged in the liquid.

2. A device of the character described comprising a float for suspending the device in a liquid and an elongated solid wound coilv tension spring having one end rigidly attached to said float and extending downwardly therefrom when the float is in said liquid and having on its other end means for suspending the device in reversed position when removed from the liquid, said spring having an initial tension therein and being resiliently deformable to form spaces between adjacent turns thereof for easy insertion of an edge of a sheet of photographic film or the like therebetween, and adapted to support a sheet by resiliently gripping the edge thereof between the adjacent turns.

3. A device of the character described comprising a float for suspending the device in a liquid and having a handle extending upwardly from the float for removal of the device from the liquid, and an elongated solid wound coil tension spring having one end rigidly attached to said float opposite said handle and acting as a weight on said float so that said spring will be submerged in the liquid, said spring having a hook formed on its other end, said spring having an initial tension therein and being resliently stretchable longtudinally to form spaces between adjacent turns thereof for easy insertion of an edge of a sheet of photographic film or the like therebetween and 4 adapted to support a sheet by resiliently gripping the edge thereof between the adjacent turns, said hook being adapted for hanging the device in reversed position for drying the film and providing an anchoring means to permit stretching of the said spring.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,214,408 Barr et al Ian. 30, 1917 1,362,136 Plate Dec. 14, 1920 FOREIGN PATENTS 130,689 Great Britain July 21, 1901 340,086 France May 3, 1904 450,537 France Oct. 26, 1912 541,295 France May 1, 1922 

